Thanksgiving Blessings Again

Are you still wondering what to do with the leftover turkey and squash from Thanksgiving? I had fun mixing together the leftovers from the fridge, plus a few extra ingredients, to make soup the Friday after Thanksgiving and it was yummy!

Thanksgiving Blessings Soup
1 onion, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups chopped mushrooms
1 tsp olive oil
1 bay leaf
4 cups turkey stock (or chicken broth)
2 TBSP leftover gravy
3/4 cup wild rice (uncooked)
1 1/2 cup squash puree (just put leftover squash in blender with some broth)
1 1/2 cup cooked turkey, cut into small, bite-size chunks
(My turkey had an herb rub on it, so I didn't add other spices to the soup, but you could add 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1/2 tsp sage to the soup if you wish)

In stockpot, saute' onion, celery and garlic in oil until softened, then add mushrooms and saute' some more. Add turkey stock, gravy, bay leaf, desired herbs and rice. Bring to boil and cook above a simmer for 1 hour, or until wild rice is cooked. Remove bay leaf. Add squash puree and turkey. Heat until cooked through.

If You Can't Take the Heat...

Earlier this year I bought a jar of sauce to make Makhani Chicken (Indian Butter Chicken). Basically, you put the sauce in a pan with cut up chicken and simmer. Very easy so, of course, I decided to see how I could make things more difficult by making it from scratch. Although it has quite a few steps, it is not really very difficult and it is sooooooo yummy! It was a bit spicy for my taste, but not too hot to eat and many of you like spicy more than I do.

Makhani Chicken (Indian Butter Chicken)
(Allow 4 hours for marinating)

1 1/4 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cubed
2 1/2 TBSP lemon juice, divided
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup plain yogurt
2 1/2 TBSP minced garlic
1 TBSP + 1 1/4 tsp garam masala (this is a spice)
2 1/2 TBSP melted butter, divided
1 TBSP + 1 1/2 tsp chili powder, divided
2 1/2 TBSP ginger paste (I used grated, fresh ginger)
1 1/2 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP chopped, green chili pepper (you can buy these in a little can)
2 cups tomato puree
1 cup water
1 TBSP honey
1 cup heavy cream

Marinate chicken in glass bowl with 1 TBSP lemon juice, 2 tsp chili powder and salt. Toss to coat and refrigerate for 1 hour.

In the meantime, drain yogurt in a cloth for 15 - 20 minutes. Place in a medium bowl. Add garlic paste, 1 1/4 tsp garam masala, 1 1/2 TBSP butter, 1 1/2 tsp chili powder, 1 1/2 TBSP ginger, 1 1/2 TBSP lemon juice and oil. Refrigerate until chicken is done marinating, then pour over chicken and marinate another 3 hours.

(If you want to serve this over rice, this would be a good time to put the rice on to cook).

Preheat oven to 400. Place chicken on grill pan. Bake 15 - 20 minutes, or until almost cooked through.

To make sauce, melt 1 TBSP butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add 1 TBSP garam masala and saute. Add 1 TBSP ginger paste, 1 TBSP garlic and green chile. Saute until tender, then add tomato puree, 1 tsp chili powder and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, add honey and simmer until chicken is done baking. Place chicken in sauce mixture. Continue cooking another 5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in cream. Serve over rice.

(I found this to be pretty runny, but maybe that is how it is supposed to be. I might thicken it a bit with just a little flour the next time).

Just a Little Ol' Farm Girl

Okay, so I'm not really a farm girl but I finally found someone to plow up my yard so I can have a vegetable garden next year. After asking everyone in town if they knew someone with a small plow, I finally found someone. He drove his tractor from his house to mine and plowed up my garden plot while I was at work one day. I wish I could have seen him do it and taken a pic to share. He even said he'd disc it up in the spring! He charged me a very small amount. I think he had great fun doing it. I love small towns.

Pasta Fagioli

This is actually a crock pot recipe, but I didn't have time to do it in the crock pot so I just did it on the stove. To do it in the crock pot, brown the ground beef and put everything except the pasta in the crock pot. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours, then add pasta and cook another 20 minutes on high or until pasta is cooked. It is super yummy!

Pasta Fagioli

1 pound lean ground beef, browned and drained
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup carrots, choped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cans (14.5 oz) petite diced tomatoes
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can northern beans, drained and rinsed
32 oz low sodium beef broth
1 jar pasta sauce
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp Tabasco sauce (recipe called for 1 TBSP, but 1 tsp was plenty)
1 small green or yellow summer squash, sliced (optional)
dash of black pepper
1 cup dry pasta (I used Rotini)

If you're not using the crock pot method:
Brown meat and drain well. Saute' onion and celery in a bit of olive oil until onions are translucent. Add chopped carrots, tomatoes (with juice), both kinds of beans, broth, pasta sauce, oregano, Tabasco sauce, pepper and squash. Cover and simmer 30 - 45 minutes, or until carrots are tender. Add pasta. Simmer another 15 minutes, or until pasta is cooked.